Natalie Maria Cole
Sunrise 6 February 1950
Sunset: 31 December 2015
Natalie Cole was born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, the daughter of crooner Nat King Coleand former Duke Ellington Orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington, and raised in the affluent Hancock Park district of Los Angeles
Regarding her childhood, Cole referred to her family as “the black Kennedys” and was exposed to many great singers of jazz, soul and blues. At the age of 6, Natalie sang on her father’s Christmas album and later began performing at age 11.